This week we begin what I would like to call the most painful unit in language arts. Yes we have endured racism, but since there is a universal silence of disapproval toward racism there is nothing really to worry about. Yes we have endured death and damnation, but since nobody really knows what either of those terms ultimately mean1, we slipped past that one too. Yes we have endured war, but sense apparently those images are too common to us, we don’t really care. Now we are on gender. The old cooties, boy vs girl, Jupiter1 shenanigans, which are surprisingly prominent even in later years. And when you have both sexes in the same room and you are talking about gender, there is obviously going to be biases. But unlike race, gender seems to be a little more outspoken, which makes this topic pretty annoying and irritating.
It is appropriate to say that sexism traces its origins way back in our history (so technically it is our ancestors’ faults that we are learning this), and in that sense, we are all somewhat sexist. I think it is also pretty appropriate to assume that sexism is wrong (such as singling out a group, in this case half the population, as inferior to the other is, well, messed up). With that said what bothers me about this unit is that there is no real middle ground for us to conduct our discussions. It would be nice for me to say that I believe both sexes are equal and that both are capable of doing the same things; however, since I am a male, that statement could easily be dismissed as being superficial (then again the literature we read don’t help either: in that sense I am a Chinese male).
The literature also plays a part in how our discussions go. For most part they focus on women. This is obviously justified by the subjugation of women throughout history. Literature, it seems, is the most powerful proponent of feminism. This, however, means that there must be a line drawn between sexism and feminism. Though our readings do not show this trait yet, feminism could change into sexism very subtly. We have to be able distinguish those who advocate rights from those who suggest that one sex is better than the other.
There are lots of things to learn about the history of feminism and how it was affected and portrayed in literature. It is also very interesting to see the different opinions out there about this topic matter, but it is frustrating to know that these discussions will very easily turn into another battle of the sexes with just one misunderstanding.
Gender is ultimately a very hard discussion to keep under control. Though there will be inevitable quirks here and there about the opposite sex, we have to understand when a discussion turns into a sexist argument. We have to recognize that suggesting that one gender is better than the other is the same type of subjugation that was suffered by women throughout history.
1. Some rhythm that suggests one sex is going to Jupiter and getting “stupider” and the other is going to college to get more knowledge
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